


The Real Reason

by umihonoka



Category: Saved By the Bell (TV)
Genre: Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24802597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/umihonoka/pseuds/umihonoka
Summary: Slater confesses the real reason he doesn't want his sister to date Zack.
Relationships: Zack Morris/A.C. Slater
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	The Real Reason

**Author's Note:**

> This fic starts about halfway through the episode "Slater's Sister" (S.4 EP.16)

“I need to talk to you.” J.B. storms into the gym marching right up to Slater with her hands on her hips as he’s being flipped and pinned down with a confused huff. The coach blows the whistle ending the match and Slater hops to his feet. He hurries over to where she waits impatiently while the other wrestlers filter out of the gym.

“You know, you really have a bad effect on my wrestling.”

“Zack doesn’t want to go out with me anymore and it’s all because of you.”

“Hey hey, calm down. That’s good news.”

“Not for me it isn’t.” She said baffled.

“You’re not as close to Zack as I am.”

“Well I’d like to be close to him, but you’ve ruined my shot at that!”

“Look, you’re my sister. It’s hard for me to see him with you, of all people.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You wouldn’t understand ok. It’s in all of our best interests if you stay away from Zack.”

“Best interests? No, you’re just being selfish. Stop telling me what I can and can’t do, I’m not a little kid anymore.” J.B shouts in defiance before storming out and ending their conversation at that. He watches her leave then stares down at his shoes while trying to work through the inner turmoil in his head.

It wasn’t that Slater was trying to control her life, really he wasn’t, it was just very difficult for him to see his sister dating Zack Morris. Sure Zack dates a lot of girls, so Slater should be used to seeing him put on the moves and be all kissy-kissy with chicks, but it felt different when it was someone he was related to. It hurt more. Made him feel like it was almost possible for him to have a chance, cause you see, Slater maybe had a bit of a crush on his best friend Zack. Ok so maybe it was more like he was head-over-heels in love with his best friend and would secretly do anything for him. But he couldn’t just tell Zack how he felt, first Zack was definitely straight, and second it would ruin their friendship. The risk was not worth it, and there was no way he was telling anyone else about how he felt. It could ruin his reputation, or worse, get back to Zack somehow. If that happened he’d be the laughing stock of the school and have no friends. So yeah, he may feel guilty for splitting up his sister and Zack, but the pain of seeing them together was hurting him too. Slater turns to head for the locker room to get ready to go home, his feelings dwelling on his mind the whole time.

Slater gets home and goes straight to his room and collapses face first onto his bed. He’s feeling terrible about purposely splitting up J.B. and Zack. If they like each other then he should be happy that they’re happy, but the thought of them dating only makes him feel worse. Maybe if he explained to his sister why… no he couldn’t tell anyone his secret, but she is his sister maybe she would understand. He debated with himself for what seemed like forever and before he knew it he was standing outside her bedroom door knocking. He waits. Then knocks again. Still no answer. He twists the knob slowly, just in case, but when he pushes the door open he finds the room is empty. He checks the living room, and the backyard, and then in the kitchen, but it seems she isn’t home. Once he catches sight of the clock though, he remembers: The Sock Hop! He almost forgot about it while drowning himself in his sorrows. He quickly gets ready, already deciding that he needs to speak to J.B as soon as possible, hopefully she won’t be too mad at him to listen.

———————

Slater walks into The Max and immediately spots J.B. He sucks in a deep breath as he makes his way over and clears his throat to signal his presence. Before he gets a chance to speak she does.

“Are you spying on me? Don’t worry, Zack hasn’t come near me all night thanks to you.” She spits out at him, and ok yeah she’s still mad. Slater is still determined to resolve what he started though so he sticks his hand out.

“Come with me.” She only stares at him though so he adds, “please.”

She takes his hand and he leads her over to the corner of the room where they sit down across from each other in a small booth.

“What do you want?” She complains. He’s sweating and takes a small calming breath before he starts.

“I’m sorry.” He pauses and glances over his shoulder quickly to make sure no one is listening. He catches sight of Zack over at the drink table with Lisa and Tori. He’s not looking in their direction.

“I wasn’t trying to tell you what you can and can’t do. You’re old enough to make your own choices.”

“Then why did you tell me to stay away from Zack?” She asks, her angry look being replaced with a curious one. Slater looks down at the table and clenches his hands into fists. He already decided he would tell her so there’s no backing out now.

“I… I was jealous.”

“You were jealous? That I was getting close to Zack? You’re his best friend, you’re always going to be close to him.” She says trying to reassure him.

“That wasn’t the reason why I was jealous. I’m jealous that you got to go out with him. That someone named Slater got to date him and it isn’t me.” He stares down at the table, unable to make eye contact with his sister. He hears her gasp and she reaches out and lays a hand on his arm.

“A.C. do you– are you… in love with Zack?” She quietly asks.

“Yeah. I am.” He finally glances up at her and sees her eyes full of sympathy. He’s starting to feel dizzy.

“Oh, I’m so sorry brother I didn’t know.”

“I know. No one knows. Will you excuse me, I need to get some fresh air.” He says and he’s already up and heading towards the door before she can respond. He steps out the front door and takes a deep breath. There are too many people hanging out out front so he rounds the building to head for the back. He sits down against the wall next to the dumpsters and puts his face in his hands. He’s there for maybe two minutes before he hears shuffling and someone sits down beside him.

“Hey Slater, you’re sister said you needed to talk to me?” And at hearing Zack’s voice Slater’s head shoots up and he stares at Zack with wide eyes.

“Zack! Hey. How did you know I was out here?”

“I saw you leave, and your car is still parked out front so I figured you must be around.”

“Oh, Yeah, right.” Slater lets out a nervous laugh.

“So J.B. told me you had something to tell me?”

“She did? Did she tell you what about?” Slater fidgets in his seat, trying not to look as nervous as he is.

“No, she just said it was really important.” Zack says. Slater’s shoulders slump with relief. He could play this off.

“Oh yeah. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. It was wrong of me to try to split you and J.B. up. If you want to date my sister then go ahead.” He says and the thought of that happening hurts a little bit.

“Thanks, but I don’t think we’ll continue dating. I took her on a date the other night and when I went to kiss her all I could picture was your face. It would’ve been like I was kissing you.” Zack laughs trying to lighten the mood and bumps Slater’s shoulder with his own. 

“Would that be so bad?” Slater whispers, more to himself than to Zack. Zack catches it though.

“What?” He asks, not sure he heard him correctly. Slater takes in a deep breath working up the courage to repeat himself.

“I said, would that be so bad?” And he looks over at Zack catching his shocked look.

“You’re a guy! And my best friend!”

And yeah that was what Slater was expecting, but it still hurt. He lets out a pathetic laugh and leans his head back against the wall.

“Yeah, that would be weird, wouldn’t it?” He says in what he hopes is a casual tone but he knows definitely came across more pathetic than intended. There’s a moment of silence between them and Slater kinda wishes he would disappear so that he wouldn’t have to face this humiliation.

“Do you want to?” Slater hears and turns a questioning gaze on Zack.

“What?”

“Do you want me to kiss you?”

Slater’s jaw drops stunned by the question. Zack was actually asking him this? There’s no way he’s going to admit that to him, he’s not ready to be laughed at, he’s not ready for the heartbreak.

“Haha get real Preppy, as if I’d want to kiss you.” He smirks, but it falters when Zack’s stare remains serious. He begins to sweat and he wipes his hands on the legs of his pants. Zack scooches closer to him.

“It seems like you want me to kiss you.” Zack says leaning into Slater’s personal space.

“Come on–“ he starts but is cut off by a pair of soft lips being pressed against his own. He freezes for a second before his eyes close and he melts against the kiss. And wow ok Zack is a really good kisser. He reaches for the collar of Zack’s shirt bunching his hands in it and pulling him forward. Zack’s hands are on his waist pulling him closer from the belt loops. Slater is lost in bliss for all of a minute before he realizes what is happening. He pushes Zack away roughly trying to wrap his head around the situation.

“Zack, stop messing around!” Slater yells at him, anger rising to the surface. “I don’t care if you think this is some kind of joke, it’s not funny alright?” And Slater is jumping to his feet now and brushing the dirt off his pants. He turns to head back around the building intent on going home and crawling under his covers, but Zack grabs his wrist as he scrambles off the ground after him.

“Slater, wait! It’s not a joke. Look, I didn’t know that you felt this way about me. If I did I wouldn’t have asked your sister out. I don’t feel the exact same way as you, but I want to give it a try.”

“You want to give it a try? What, like a pity date because you feel sorry for me? No thanks.” Slater growls ripping his wrist free from Zack’s grasp.

“No not like a pity date, like a real one. I want to give this a try, please?” Zack looks at him with that cute, pleading smile and puppy dog eyes. Slater’s resolve crumbles as he cracks a smile of his own. He can’t help the sudden feeling of giddiness at realizing Zack just asked him out for real.

“Ok Preppy since you’re basically begging to go out with me.” Slater smiles and Zack breaks out into a grin as he rolls his eyes.

“Hey since we’re going out now maybe we could go back to that kissing we were doing earlier?” Slater asks wiggling his eyebrows. Zack laughs at him and pulls him close, lightly pressing his lips against Slater’s before pulling away.

“We can continue later, I think for now we should both head back inside to the party.” Zack takes Slater’s hand pulling him back towards the front of the building. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first SBTB fanfic so I hope that I kept Slater and Zack relatively in character. If you enjoyed it and want more please leave a comment, I have more fic ideas in mind for this ship.  
> This fic is also on FF.net under the account preppyslater


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